Philip Laughlin

YouTube video by The Westport Library Common Ground: 'Somebody Should Do Something' w/ Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, & Daniel Kelly

And... we're off! My first stop on the SSDS book tour was tonight and will be tough to top! Westport Library is an amazing venue, couldn't ask for a better moderator than Sharon Suchotliff, and huge thanks to Jennifer Keller and co for making it happen!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY5K...

#booksky

Sensory Substitution by Malika Auvray: https://doi.org/10.21428/e2759450.31252f1b

Looking forward to reading Greg’s new book. Something tells me this is going to be a classic. 📖 (I’ll be wise to focus on the stuff I know less well and learn from it, but I’m curious to see how his views on IFG are evolving, and why IFG is still not part of the brain’s ‘combinatorial network’.) 🗣️👂🧠

"Rights for Robots?"
Tomorrow (7 October 2025) I will be at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois for an event at the Orpheum Theatre. The event is free and open to the public...including non-human persons, AI companions, and robots.

Somebody Should Do Something Changing the world is difficult. One reason is that the most important problems, like climate change, racism, and poverty, are structural. They emerge from o...

Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change

📚From Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva & Daniel Kelly

Promotional image depicting three 3D covers of MIT Press books. Books featured are "Somebody Should Do Something," "On Liberalism," and "Rewiring Democracy."

Censorship has no place in a free society. To mark the start of #BannedBooksWeek, we've curated a list of recent MIT Press books to help you read for your rights: mitpress.mit.edu/reading-free...

Cultural Universals by Manvir Singh: https://doi.org/10.21428/e2759450.44a6d380

mitpress.mit.edu/978026254630...

How to Lose Loudly: What the Left can Learn from the NRA Episode 2577: Michael Brownstein on how anyone can create social change

Aside from having to record it in my overheated closet, this was a really fun interview with Andrew Keen. Appreciated the hard questions--like whether there can be a science of social change--and occasional pushback.
@madva.bsky.social @dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social #booksky

Theory of Mind by Henry M. Wellman: https://doi.org/10.21428/e2759450.4c3b0935

a white man with a white beard wearing a dark sweater sits at a table, gesticulating about something or other with both hands. behind him are visible the ribcage and legs of a reclining skeleton

@maastrichtu.bsky.social, where I work, deployed its PR machine in my direction and ran a nice profile of me in the uni magazine. The photo was taken at the Sint Janskerk in front of a massive stone sculpture of a reclining skeleton emblazoned with the words MEMENTO MORI (not visible here)

What to read on International Day of Non-Violence Several books on peace and reformation for International Day of Non-Violence.

mitpress.mit.edu/what-to-read...

The Interaction Engine by Stephen C. Levinson: https://doi.org/10.21428/e2759450.e3df24b2

Opinion | How the Manosphere Hijacks Young Men’s Interest in Science

From @mitpress.bsky.social author @adamfrank4.bsky.social

"How the Manosphere Hijacks Young Men’s Interest in Science"

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/o...

The Rise and Unraveling of America’s Science Pact The system of federally funded research gave the U.S. wealth, power, and prestige. Its future is now uncertain.

"So extreme is this embarrassment within the political class that it has eclipsed even the personal fears of disability and death among legislators who control the dollars."

Meaning The meaning of an expression is the idea or message it communicates. For example, “tennis balls are yellow” communicates a fact about the color of tennis balls in virtue of the meaning of “yellow.”…

🧠 Cognitive scientist Giosuè Baggio provides an entry on meaning for The Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, a multidisciplinary, #openaccess resource to understanding the mind: oecs.mit.edu/pub/ivtprtc8... @oecs-bot.bsky.social #OECS @giosuebaggio.bsky.social

Shamelessly promoting my favorite paper. Everybody who was anybody in the history of science/philosophy/mathematics had a view on the moon illusion. frances-egan.org/uploads/3/5/...

This is the kind of self-promotion I can forgive.

I had a great time presenting BYE BYE I LOVE YOU to friends and colleagues yesterday at @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social. It kicked off a busy fall--I have six more talks to do by the end of the year. Get in touch if I can talk to your group about first words, last words, and/or writing nonfiction.

Word Learning by Michael C. Frank: https://doi.org/10.21428/e2759450.5e3f2bda

Chicagoland Friends! Two weeks from today I'll be in town at The Seminary Coop to talk about social change and my new book. It would be great to see you! It's from 4-5pm Thursday 10/16, and I will probably be thirsty afterwards.

www.semcoop.com/event/daniel...

Just in case you find yourself near Wayne, PA on Fri Oct 10th, stop by Main Point Books to ask @madva.bsky.social all the hard questions about making social change!

@dryan149.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social #booksky

www.eventbrite.com/e/somebody-s...

The Rise and Unraveling of America’s Science Pact The system of federally funded research gave the U.S. wealth, power, and prestige. Its future is now uncertain.

A traumatic moment for the American scientific community.

Great to see this piece finally out!

"One way to recruit people, despite a lack of immediate prospects, is a tactic called 'losing loudly': making a spectacle of a battle they know they can’t win, one that motivates others to take action."

@mitpress.bsky.social @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social

The Democrats’ shutdown strategy is terrible. Here’s a better one. Talk less about health care, more about authoritarianism.

In their recent book, Brownstein, Madva, and Kelly argue that people don’t necessarily join causes because they think they’re going to win in the short term … yet their decision to participate during a seemingly hopeless period creates the conditions for ultimate victory

www.vox.com/politics/463...

The Democrats’ shutdown strategy is terrible. Here’s a better one. Talk less about health care, more about authoritarianism.

The Dems’ shutdown strategy is a microcosm of the party’s struggle to figure out how to resist MAGA authoritarianism. @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social analysis here is spot on.

Logrolling trigger warning: he makes excellent use of @madva.bsky.social, @dryan149.bsky.social, and my recent research. 🧵

Visual Cognitive Neuroscience by Marius V. Peelen: https://doi.org/10.21428/e2759450.d3438ecd

Seeking New Information With Old Questions: Children and Adults Reuse and Recombine Concepts From Prior Questions Abstract. Question asking is a key tool for learning about the world, especially in childhood. However, formulating good questions is challenging. In any given situation, many questions are possible b...

📣Recent work by Emily G. Liquin, Marjorie Rhodes & Todd M. Gureckis:

Seeking new information with old questions: Children and adults reuse and recombine concepts from prior questions

3D promotional image of "Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change" by Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, and Daniel Kelly.

The "Somebody Should Do Something" book tour heads to Pennsylvania! Join co-author Alex @madva.bsky.social at The End Bookstore on Tuesday, October 7th when he will be in conversation with Aimee Saunders, from @redwineblueusa.bsky.social: theendbooks.co/event/2025-1... @playbooks.bsky.social